MGHI at the Conference of New Ideas in Cancer: Challenging dogmas—Tata Memorial Centre Platinum Jubilee

Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai is on the cusp of a momentous year, namely, the 75th year of its existence. The platinum jubilee conference will be devoted to challenging the current dogmas and to debate the ‘currently entrenched versus contrarian viewpoints’ in cancer research and treatment. The conference will be held at the National Centre for Performing Arts in Mumbai and the iconic Taj Mahal Palace Hotel has agreed to be our official hospitality partners from the 26th to 28th of February 2016.

It is likely to be a landmark conference, the first of its kind. Indeed, the central idea for the conference came from surveying the current landscape of cancer research and treatment and the disappointments that it has brought us. The last decade has been particularly frustrating as we have realized that the hype generated from molecular and genetic ‘breakthroughs’ are translating neither into a meaningful understanding of the malignant process nor to a clinically relevant relief to our patients. In our desperate quest to prove our scientific approach to be right, we are even modifying our time-tested methodologies of clinical research, and getting increasingly excited by meaningless gains of “progression free survival” by a few months. A 2%-3% improvement in overall survival has become the outer limit of our intellectual expectation.

The Platinum Jubilee conference will be devoted to challenging the current dogmas and to debate the ‘currently entrenched versus contrarian viewpoints’ in cancer research and treatment. Key international speakers and participants will deliberate on these issues critically over 3 days of the conference on carefully chosen themes in the form of symposia, debates and special lectures. Some of the emerging messages may lead to potentially paradigm shifting approaches to how we perceive and treat cancer. We are sure that the conference will be an academic feast and would appeal to all scientists, clinicians and health care professional involved in researching and treating cancer.

The Lancet Oncology, the US NCI and AACR have agreed to be partners.

Nicolas ANDRE, from MGHI has been invited to talk about the mechanism of action of chemotherapy.

Program

A Basic and Translational science
• Has the molecular revolution reached the bedside?
• How much of genomic data has translated into clinical practice?
• Targeted therapy has failed our patients (debate)
• Precision medicine is an empty slogan (debate)

G Hospital day oration and special lectures
•Technological challenge, stagnation and decline in the 21st century
•Cancer research in need of a scientific revolution
•Thinking Outside the Box in Cancer Research: Perspectives from the US NCI
•Fractal geometry in oncogenesis

H Top abstracts session

I Grand discussion
•A 90 minute session highlighting the key messages from various talks and discussions during the
conference and also deliberate a possible cancer agenda for the future. Discussants will include
senior faculty, a few key note speakers and international policy makers.

J Public forum on cancer
•A 2 hour interaction between top experts and the public